Sunday Feb 15th

Water conditions for this day were much warmer than the last weekend, but because of extremely strong winds on Thursday and Friday the water was muddied up. I spent the entire day fishing south of Marshall Hall Ramp. I used the same rule of thumb to grass fishing and hunted for the clearest water I could find. The entire day was spent fishing grassbeds throughout the Potomac south of Marshall Hall Ramp. Between myself and my partner we caught and released 14 bass, all of which were larger than 15inches. The biggest fish that we caught was just under 5 lbs. It was an extremely productive day with the water temperature warming to 47 degrees by sunset. Air temperature warmed to 45 degrees during the day but the sun angle is more direct this time of year which added warmth to the water. All of the 14 fish were caught on moving baits and almost all were caught on crankbaits. The lunker of the day was caught on a slow rolled spinnerbait. During the day when we got bit the fish completley commited to the bait and often times pliers had to be used to remove the lure from the fishes mouth.
The entire day was spent fishing grassbeds throughout the Potomac. The most interesting thing that I learned from this day was that almost all of the fish that we caught had red lips, which is common for fish that have been stationary for a long period of time. This proves to me that the same fish that spawn in the grass live in the grass all year long. These fish have been in the same location all winter long. Another interesting observation that I made this day was that most of the fish were thin and had belly's which were not full. I am not a biologist but I do know that cold water slows metabolism and these fish were thin. These fish have not eaten a large meal in a long time and were almost completely pale. This observation confirms the ideology that the bass remain in the grassbeds long after it begins to die on the Potomac River. These fish simply eat less meals and remain motionless till warmer water temperatures, and even when ice forms above them. The best most unbelievable factor about this day was that we never ran into another boat fishing around us.